DESIGN OF DOLOS ARMOUR UNITS

Hans F. Burcharth, Zhou Liu

Abstract

The slender, complex types of armour units, such as Tetrapods and Dolosse are widely used. Many of the recent failures of such rubble mound breakwaters revealed that there is an inbalance between the strength (structural integrity) of the units and the hydraulic stability (resistance to displacements) of the armour layers. The paper deals only with Dolos armour and presents the first design diagrammes and formulae where stresses from static, quasistatic and impact loads are implemented as well as the hydraulic stability. The Dolos is treated as a multishape unit where the thickness can be adjusted to the strength needs.